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Ross Romaniuk, QMI Agency

May 27, 2012

, Last Updated: 12:04 PM ET

WINNIPEG - A dramatic discovery in a high-profile missing persons case will soon reunite two young children with their mother.

As we reported first online on Saturday, siblings Dominic and Abby Maryk -- allegedly abducted by their father in mid-2008 -- have been located by authorities in Guadalajara, Mexico, and are soon to be returned to Emily Cablek in Manitoba.

The discovery of the brother and sister -- 11 and nine years of age, respectively -- followed a tip to police from a neighbour in the Mexican city. The children were allegedly long held captive in a locked, high-security residence and rarely seen outside during daylight.

Police agencies in Mexico, overseen by Interpol, reportedly raided the Guadalajara residence on Friday and arrested Kevin Maryk, the kids' father, and Canadian citizen Robert Groen.

"The kids were found, and everything is good to go," Wilhelm von Mayer, a private investigator in St. Francisville, La., told QMI Agency, speaking about the children.

"They should be on their way to Canada."

It's unclear what charges Maryk and Groen would face in Mexico and/or in Canada. Among the discoveries made by police at the Guadalajara home, alleged von Mayer, were "large amounts of child pornography."

The FIND Foundation, an organization involved in searches for missing persons in Mexico, stated online on Saturday that it has played a large role in the "great international accomplishment" in locating the siblings, who had been reported missing by Cablek following a court-approved, two-week visit they had with Maryk in August 2008.

"We are extremely pleased by the outcome of this situation," Juan Manuel Estrada Juarez, president of FIND, said on the agency's Facebook page.

Von Mayer stressed that police in Mexico initially "didn't do anything," and acted on the tip only after he and FIND became aware and pressured them to investigate.

The neighbour had seen the children profiled on a Mexican television program about crime and missing persons, and recognized them.

"They didn't go to school. They were locked up all day," von Mayer said. "There were security cameras in the house, pointing out to the gate. That made him suspicious. So when he saw the kids on the TV show, that's when he reported it to the authorities."

After QMI's story was first published online, police Patrol Sgt. Monica Stothers released a statement saying the force's missing persons unit "has been involved in a lengthy investigation with Mexican authorities" and that "significant developments took place on Friday."

Stothers said police will reveal more on Monday.

Von Mayer said RCMP are planning to have the kids returned to Winnipeg. However, RCMP spokesman Cpl. Miles Hiebert said he knows nothing about the discovery of the siblings.